Process of exterminating insect life from trees or shrubs.



R. C. HENDRICKS. "moczss or EXTERMINATIYNG INSECT LIFE FROM TREES 0RSHRUBS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC- I5| l9l3. 1,178,803.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

THE coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, n. c.

TES PAT-E n RANDOLPH C. HIENIII)HICKS,v 01E RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGNOB; OF ONE-HALF" TO EDWARD MGCLURE SYP, OF RIVERSIDE,CAIZIFORINIA.

PROCESS OF EXTEBM-INATING INSECT LIFE FROM TREES OR SHRUBS.

To all whom it may concern r Be it known that I, RANDOLPH G. HEN. muons,a citizen of the United States, residing at Riverside, in the county ofRiverside and State of California, have invented a new and usefulProcess of Exterminating Insect Life from Trees or Shrubs, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to processes of exterminating insect life, andparticularly to the extermination of scale, insects, and the like, fromcitrus or other trees. In the cultivation of any sort of fruit treesthere are a number of insect pests against which the orchard owner mustbe constantly at war. It is common practice to spray the trees withvarious solutions for the purpose of destroying these pests, but suchspraying is not entirely effective due to the difiiculty of covering theentire surface of the tree with any sort of a liquid which may beprojected into the tree. It is also common practice to cover the treewith a tent or cover and to fill the space under the cover with apoisonous gas for the-same purpose. is possible to put an explosivemixture under a similar cover, and by the ignition of such a mixture toentirely destroy any insect life under the cover.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means foraccomplishing this result.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only: Figure 1 isan elevation, partly in section, carrying on my process. Fig. 2 is asectional. view .on the line w w of Fig. 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view taken on the line na -a of Fig. 2of the valve and bail used in my invention.

In these drawings, 1 is a tree about which has been placed a cover 2. Inthe top of this cover is an opening 3 around which is secured a plate 4to which is secured a bail 5 which may be of wire or fiexible rope.Doors 6, normally held closed by springs 7, close the opening 3 beinghinged to the plate 4 by means of the hinges 8.

The cover 2 consists preferably of canvas, or similar fabric, and isplaced about the tree by any of the well known means in common use inhandlingfumigating covers.

Specification of Letters Patent.

I have found that it of the apparatus used in Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed December 15, 1913. Serial No. 806,921.

The lower portion of the cover is of sufficlent length to lie on theground as shown at 9, and may be staked down as shown at lOif desired.

For the purpose of introducing an explosive mixture into the cover Iemploy a portable vaporizer 11. This vaporizer comprises a tank 12carried on wheels 13 and moved from place to place 'by means of a handle14'. A hand pump 15, actuated through a handle 16 and provided withsuitable valves, forces air through a pipe 17 into the top of the tank,a gage 18 being provided to observe the pressure of air inside thistank. A pipe 19 extends downwardly through the top of the tank 12 to apoint very near the bottom thereof. A body of gasolene 20, or similarliquid, is placed in the tank 12 and the air pressure acting on the topof this liquid forces the gasolene upwardly through the pipe 19 andthrough a filter 21 into a pipe 22 which may, however, be closed by avalve 23. The pipe 22 extends to a carbureter 241 which may be fastenedin the ground by means of a spike 25 and the gasolene is vaporized andmixed with air in this carbureter and passed into the interior of thecover through a pipe 26. In practice I actuate the hand pumpsufficiently to give a considerable initial pressure on the liquid andmanipulate the valve 23 to control the supply of gasolene passing to thecarbureter 2 1, the tank 12 being of suflicient size to provide anexplosive mixture for a considerable number of trees. When the cover 2is filled with a suflicient amount of explosive mixture I ignite same bymeans of the arrangement shown in the drawings. A stake27 is driven intothe ground and carries a spark plug 28 which is provided with sparkingpoints 29, this spark plug being any of the well known forms. Wires 30extend through the cover to an igniting set 31 which is provided with ahandle 32 which actuates a magneto carried in a box 33, but not shown.By pushing downward sharply on the handle 32 a considerable voltage isgenerated by the magneto in the box 33. This voltage causes a current toflow in the wires 30 and across the air gap between the points 29causing a considerable spark at these points. This spark ignites themixture inside the cover which is immediately thereafter entirely bathedin an intense flame of considerable pressure. I have found that theproduction of such an explosion and flame about the tree is fatal to allinsect life in the tree, and that the process above described is a veryefiicient one of destroying such life. The valve at the top of the coveris provided for relieving this pressure.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device for destroying insects on a tree, the combination of acover adapted to surround a tree, means for causing an explosion insidesaid cover, and a valve for relieving the pressure of said explosion.

2. In a device for destroying insects on a tree, the combination of acover for a tree, means for introducing an explosive mixture inside saidcover, means for exploding said RANDOLPH o. HENDRICKS.

In presence of C. F. HETZEL, H. C. HIBBARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. i

